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Ashlyn Nelson | “U.S. housing markets may be emerging from the foreclosure crisis, but for many children, problems caused by the slide in home values haven’t ended. Foreclosure can have a lasting impact on children’s academic performance, says Ashlyn Aiko Nelson, an associate professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IU Bloomington. “WeRead more

Kevin Bouffard | THE LEDGER | “Controversial Lakeland developer Jeff Holden may lose a significant chunk of his commercial real estate holdings to foreclosure unless he can come up with almost $18 million to pay off the mortgages. Two Holden properties have already been placed into receivership under foreclosure actions that began in February 2012 while aRead more

Robert Trigaux | Times Business Columnist | “Consumer ripoffs, scams and disputes are alive, well and changing as the nation emerges from recession, consumer protection experts said Tuesday. “There is a boundless creativity of scammers to find new ways to fleece consumers,” warns Susan Grant, the Consumer Federation of America’s director of consumer protection. Unlicensed contractingRead more

CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER | AP | BayNews9 | In this Tuesday, June 11, 2013, photo, a single house is offered for sale in Santa Monica, Calif. Sandard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller reports on home prices in May on Tuesday, July 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) “U.S. home prices jumped 12.2 percent in May compared with a yearRead more

Steven Perlberg |   “Real estate investors are getting back in the flipping game, netting an average gross profit of nearly $20,000 on single family home flips in the first half of 2013. Home flips are up 19% from a year ago and 74% from the first half of 2011,according to a new report from Realtytrac .Read more

Josh Salman | Herald Tribune | “Lenders completed fewer foreclosures nationwide in May, but the rate of defaults continue to top recent years and the amount of distressed residences remains dangerously high, a new report shows. Mortgage bankers repossessed 52,000 delinquent U.S. homes in May, a 3.5 percent increase from April but down 27 percent fromRead more

By Scott Blake |     Banks and other mortgage servicers are holding many homes in foreclosure without putting them up for sale, according to local market watchers.    In fact, Florida leads the nation by far in vacant homes in foreclosure, with more than 55,000 homes in foreclosure sitting empty, according to a recent report by RealtyTracRead more

TheRealDeal.com | “Tens of thousands of Florida homeowners have abandoned properties threatened by foreclosure, a dark spot in the Sunshine State’s otherwise brightening real estate market, the Palm Beach Post reported. About 55,000 Florida homes with defaulted mortgages are deserted, nearly one third of the national total and more than triple second-place Illinois, which hasRead more

Heather Perlberg & John Gittelsohn | “Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate at Blackstone Group LP, talks about Blackstone’s investment in residential real estate and the outlook for the U.S. housing and commercial property market. He speaks with Erik Schatzker and Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg) The firm, which already ownsRead more

Reuters with CNBC.com | “Fewer U.S. foreclosures were completed in May compared to a year ago, while the number of houses in the foreclosure process also declined as the market continued to heal, data analysis firm CoreLogic said Tuesday. There were 52,000 foreclosures completed, well below the 71,000 in May 2012, CoreLogic said. Even so, thatRead more